Vegan Eggnog Cake with Cranberry Glaze

Each Christmas day, we begin by having cake for breakfast. It’s become our family tradition and way of celebrating the “reason for the season” before the gift opening begins.

For years, the kids would help make the cake and decorate it but as they are getting older their calendars are now full of activities and sports and I’ve started making the cake on my own. I’m pretty sure I could still make it happen and have them help, but I kinda like the quiet in the kitchen and being able to have a cake without funfetti sprinkles or multi-colored globs of icing everywhere.

Their favorite to eat so far as been the Chocolate Mocha Cake which was pretty amazing! It’s one we turn to for Special Occasions like birthdays or any event cake is required.

However, this year, I wanted something different, something more wintry looking and festively flavored. Looking through the ingredients I had on hand, I remembered that in my goody package from So Delicious, was a box of Coconut Nog….. which was exactly what I needed to make this cake extra special.

I also had in my pantry, some Wilton Easy Layers 6″ baking rounds which I so desperately wanted to try.

I’m so glad I did, because I just love the height of the cake as well how it shows off the layers of cranberry glaze.

If you’ve never made a glaze before, this is one of the easiest glazes to make. It’s basically just boiling down a combination of berries, water and sugar. It then turns into this sweet & tart compote, which is perfectly paired with the eggnog  in our Christmas cake.

 The cake recipe is also especially simple to make with no crazy ingredients. If you don’t have any “nog”, just use the dairy-free milk you have on hand or maybe even try using your coffee creamer. It’s a little richer in flavor texture and would do wonderfully in this recipe as well.

Here’s a few other substitutions, just in case you need some.

• Vegetable oil instead of melted coconut oil.
• Mixed berries instead of cranberries.
• Jarred preserves instead of homemade filling.
• Yogurt instead of sour cream.
• Homemade icing instead of pre-made icing.
• 2 (8″) cake rounds instead of 5 (6″) mini pans.

I was looking for pretty and simple when creating this recipe, therefore, I used some icing that I already had on hand when we decorated sugar cookies. Feel free to use your favorite homemade icing of choice or use a brand that you know if “safe” for your allergies.

For the sparkling cranberries, I had seen other recipes that used 5-6 steps to make these sugared beauties, but I just didn’t have time for that. 3 steps was all I needed. Microwave the berries in water and sugar. Scoop out berries and roll in fine sugar to coat. Allow to dry on a wire rack until ready to decorate.

Next time, I’ll make sure to use the “fine” sugar so there is no clumping but if that doesn’t bother you, then use what you have. I still ate every last sugared cranberry that didn’t make it on this cake.

Christmas is just right around the corner, but you still have plenty of time to whip this up and create the star of the dessert table.

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Vegan Eggnog Cake with Cranberry Glaze

Yield: 8

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

A holiday cake that is almost too pretty to eat, although you'll want to! Vanilla cake made with Coconut nog and layered with cranberry glaze brings two beloved holiday flavors together. Dairy, egg & nut free

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Ingredients

• Cake Recipe
• **************
• 1 1/2 C. all-purpose flour
• 1 C. organic cane sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3/4 C. coconut nog (I used So Delicious)
• 1/2 C. coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 C. dairy free sour cream or yogurt (Tofutti)
• 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• Cranberry Filling
• ******************
• 1 C. cranberries
• 1/2 C. water
• 2 TB. organic brown sugar
• Sparkling Cranberries
• *************************
• 1 C. organic sugar
• 6 oz. cranberries

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325° convection or 350° standard.
2. Lightly spray cake pans and set aside.
3. Using a stand mixer, blend together coconut milk, coconut oil, sour cream & vanilla.
4. Add in sifted flour, sugar, baking soda & baking powder then add in your salt.
5. Blend just enough to incorporate all ingredients together, scraping down sides if needed.
6. Equally divide cake batter between pans and fill 2/3 full. (I used 5 mini cake pans for a tall, skinny cake)
7. Bake 20-30 minutes or until center comes out clean. (20 minutes was plenty for my small cake pans so adjust accordingly)
8. Remove from oven, let cool on bake rack before icing.
9. *********************************
10. Cranberry Filling Instructions:
11. In a medium saucepan, add berries, water and brown sugar and heat over medium.
12. Stir occasionally so the sugar doesn't burn.
13. Cranberries will start to "pop" and mixture will thicken. Using the back of your mixing spoon, press down on berries to start to mash together and remove big pieces.
14. Once thickened and berries have cooked down, you should have a thick, almost jelly-like spread.
15. ********************************
16. Sparking Cranberry Instructions: (easy version)
17. Fill small bowl 1/2 C. sugar.
18. In another bowl fill with cranberries and add 1/2 C. water + 1/2 C. sugar.
19. Heat in the microwave 1 minute, remove, stir to make sure sugar has dissolved.
20. Using a slotted spoon, transfer cranberries to the bowl with sugar only and roll to coat.
21. Let berries dry on wire rack and set aside until ready to decorate.
22. ************************************
23. To Assemble Cake:
24. Place 1st layer of cake on serving dish.
25. Top with 1 large spoonful of cranberry glaze.
26. Repeat with remaining 3 cake layers and on the 4th & top layer, leave without the cranberry glaze.
27. Coat cake with icing of choice.
28. Add sparkling cranberries on top of icing for a beautiful presentation and line edges of cake with berries as well.